You're probably cleaning your grill all wrong. Most people use wire brushes, but those aren't what you want to be using on the thing you cook your food on.
1,700. That's the number of emergency room visits by people who got the bristles of a wire grill brush stuck in their tongues, throat, intestines or colon. YES. Colon.
1,700 people from 2002 to 2014. And yes again. It could easily, EASILY happen to you. The problem with wire grill scrapers is eventually some of those bristles that are great for scraping gunk off of your BBQ break off. They stick to your grill, you throw your hamburger on it, it sticks to your burger and then you eat it.
And about a day later you end up in the emergency room with a doctor who looks nothing like George Clooney telling you to put a hospital gown on, you need surgery ... which may or may not work.
So there's that.
I am here to today to tell you ...
Throw AWAY your wire grill brush now.
So how are you going to clean your grill? Well you have a few options.
Table of Contents
Ways to clean a Grill
- Pierce a halved onion with a long meat fork and rub it on a hot grill.
- Spray the grill with vinegar, let it sit for a bit and then rub the grill with balled up tinfoil.
- Fill a metal pan with water and put it in the BBQ to heat up. It will create steam that'll make wiping the grills easy(ish).
I've resorted to not even cleaning my grill and just cooking my food on a new, undirty part of the grill every time I BBQ.
I ran out of clean spots last week.
So I made made a wooden grill scraper and you can too.
It looks like this.
And this ...
How to make a grill scraper
Materials
1 foot length of 6x1" Oak. (you can get oak boards by the foot at any lumber store) They cost around $5 per foot.
Drill and bit
Belt Sander
40 grit and 120 grit belt sander paper
Strip of leather or cord
Mineral Oil
Total Time - 1 hour if using a belt sander, less if you're using an electric planer, more if you're using a palm sander. All these tools will work. I used a belt sander so those are the instructions I'm going to give you.
- Lay your 12" piece of oak flat on a table and with measure and mark 2" from one end of the wood.
From the 2 inch point down, is where you are going to be sanding away the material until it forms a thin point. Draw a guide on the side of your wood.
After sanding, all that will remain is the point in the centre.
2. Clamp your belt sander with the 40 grit paper on it SECURELY into a vice.
3. Turn the sander on. If it's the type you have to keep your finger on the button for it to run, hold the power button down with a hand clamp.
4. Gradually sand down one side of the oak. This will take 10 - 20 minutes depending on your sander and sand paper.
5. Do the other side. Make sure you have a nice, sharp, thin edge on the end.
6. Using the rolled end of the belt sander, sand a groove into the top of the wood to act as a handle for your fingers. This is optional.
6. Change to 120 grit sand paper and smooth out all of the wood including rounding out the edges.
7. Drill a hole into the top and run your string or leather through for hanging your scraper.
8. If you want to get fancy like me, stamp your initial into the handle of the wood with a leather stamp.
8. Wipe with mineral oil.
How to use the scraper.
To prepare your scraper for its scraping duties, turn your grill onto high so the grates are nice and hot. Then run your scraper slowly back and forth with firm pressure on the grates. The grooves with start to char and form slowly but surely.
The more you use it, the deeper the groves become.
To jump start the whole process you can use a rounded file to file some grooves.
The more you use the scraper the deeper the grooves will get. Thicker grates take longer to form grooves than thinner ones.
I didn't want to wait for 150 BBQing sessions before I got nice deep grooves, so once I had the beginnings of my grooves from the hot grill, I used a round file to speed up the process a bit. Then I rubbed the scraper across the grill again.
You can also use the tool for cleaning out the inside of the grates by turning it sideways.
Can't be bothered? I get that. Just buy one.
This makes a great host/hostess gift for someone who invites you over for a BBQ. If they happen to have cleaned their grill with a wire brush you might want to discreetly scream at the top of your lungs ...
THROW AWAY YOUR WIRE GRILL BRUSH NOW!
Just a discrete, raving, screaming you understand. You don't want to be considered an ungrateful guest. Also leave the BBQ with your entire family chanting, YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL US, YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL US, while throwing your hostess gift and the link to this blog post over your shoulder in their general direction.
You can leave it outside because it's such a hard wood and it's treated with mineral oil, but I bring mine inside when I'm not using it.
Just doing my part to keep you from becoming #1,701.
This is very helpful tool, thank you.
Such a great idea. Instead of using those metal scrappers.
Thanks for the article, I copied one from and old oar and cut a few out of scrap wood. Used for the first time yesterday, worked well. Finished them with mineral oil. One out of oak, one from cedar and the third one I don't know what wood species but looks nice.
I made a rough cut with my band saw then used my 4″x36″
Stationary belt sander to finish the job. Much easier than doing all that sanding. Also a lot less dust since I was able to connect the sander to my shop vac. Plus I didn’t need to buy any wood since I have a work shot with all kinds so scrap wood. This was a good idea especially since it cost me anything
I made one of these last year after reading this. I used a slat from an old wine barrel as the starting point. Works great and it was a fun first project!
When you purchased your oak was it true dimension lumber ( 1" x 6" or 5 1/2" by 3/4")?? Love your
blog and really enjoyed your Apple Fennel Salad had to run all over Vancouver to find the Korean mint but found some at a farmers market.
It was the dressed and dried size Dorelle. (5.5 x 3/4 or so) I can't believe you found Korean MINT!!! That's fantastic! I've never seen it anywhere other than in the pot in my backyard, lol. I'll be in Vancouver in a few weeks. Can't wait! ~ karen
This came up when I was checking the weather today: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/videos/Gallery/bbq-bristle-lodged-in-canadian-mans-intestine-a-summer-time-nightmare/2312993038001/2312993038001_2
I just recently learned about the wire brush danger...This looks awesome but all I have is a little MOUSE palm sander...
is that lemonbalm in the last pic next to your basil? And a cold Stella? living large.... I planted some in my hanging basket this year and don't know what to use it for. Do you have a favorite use to share? Love the grill scraper, you're inventive.
Hi Benjamin! I think what you're seeing is my Korean liquorice mint. The most delicious herb in the world! ~ karen!
oh wow that sounds unusual and wonderful at the same time. If you touch it can you smell licorice too or just mint? What do you use it in? Fruit salads and pastries? Summer drinks? I think I need to look for that at the garden center. Have a great day, Karen. xo
It's alllll liquorice Benjamin. I don't taste mint at all. It's terrific in an apple/fennel salad. Or to just force upon friends/family/visitors. ~ karen!
Lemon balm makes a nice tea. Even nicer with some pineapple sage thrown in! Hopefully my pineapple mint will grow back enough to try that in the mix too. A few leaves of that torn up in a salad adds a nice citrusy bite!
looks good. I use LCBO bags; fold pieces into layers and the sturdy paper lets you scrub and wipe easily....and then you have your drink:).
Wow, throwing away our grill brush. Thanks!
Awesome! Can you just make one for me, and I will buy it from you instead? Great idea using a vice and the belt sander. We use to have a belt sander but I think it was tossed out, my husband leaves everything outside in all kinds of weather. He is all thumbs, so I would have to make it. I guess I will just buy one, tho they don't look at sturdy as yours. :/
good grief, don't people who scrape their grill with wire brushes WIPE THEM OFF afterward? *eyeroll* I used to work for a company (http://tinyurl.com/dxywggd) that made grill cleaners (among other similar products), so I'm a bit biased on those, but on every package we put in BIG BOLD LETTERS that you use the product, then wipe down the grill with a damp rag afterward. But your DIY version looks amazingly simple and very effective! Wondering, does it smell nice and 'toasty' if you use it on a hot grill? :)
Where did you find oak sold by the foot? I was all over this (going to throw it into the mix of my other summer projects, but would have had to buy 8 feet of oak at the orange store today...)
Hi Jackie! I got it at my local lumberyard. The kind that a real contractor would use, not an "orange store", lol, contractor. Turkstra Lumber. But most cities/towns have a regular lumberyard like that. Did you ask at Home Depot if you could buy the oak by the foot? ~ karen!
Belt sander in the vise? Brilliant. I can't tell you how many times I read your blog and slap my feeble head and think "why didn't I think of that?"
This is the thing I want to make for the family reunion silent auction! It will be a huge hit!! One of my coworkers ended up in the hospital after a wire bristle on his hamburger stuck on the way through with lots of pain while doing it. He's okay, and I think I might make one for him, too. Thanks for the great idea/tutorial/public service announcement. You rock!
Just so you know, you are saving lives here. And, you're pretty badass too, just saying.
p.s. bought one just now, after reading this...thought if I tried to make one, that act alone would send me to the ER.
yeah, let's try to keep everybody out of the ER, lol. Hope you like it! ~ karen